Starving for Affection
by JaLye
Summary: Ino doesn’t feel good about herself, since Shikamaru started dating Temari. She looses her appetite and hardly eats anymore. This takes place after the time skip. shikaino and shikatema
1. Chapter 1

-1Summary: Ino doesn't feel good about herself, since Shikamaru started dating Temari. She looses her appetite and hardly eats anymore. This takes place after the time skip.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I'll only say this once.

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Ino's POV

I walked to the hill where Shikamaru usually did his cloud-watching. He was there under the shade of the tree and was staring at the sky, his head resting on his hands.

"Hey, Shika, what are you doing?"

"The name's Shikamaru, not Shika."

"Sorry," I pouted, "But Shika just sounds so much cuter! So, what are you up to?"

"Nothing. Why do you care anyways?" I felt hurt hearing that come out of his mouth.

"But I thought we were friends." I faked a sniff and pretended to wipe away a tear.

"Why are girls always so troublesome?" He sighed.

"Excuse me!? Just what do you mean by _that_!? This is how _normal _girls act!"

"Well, what about Hinata? She's normal and she isn't too troublesome."

"When I say _normal_, I don't mean shy girls, genius."

"Fine. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk to you, that's all."

"What do you want to talk about?" He sighed and sat up as he said this.

"Nothing in particular. So, how's life?"

"Too troublesome. I wish I could be like the clouds, going wherever the wind takes us, without a care in the world. Why couldn't I be one instead?"

Shikamaru just finds everything too troublesome.

"Well, for one, clouds are made of water. And-"

"Shikamaru!" I heard a screech and saw it was Temari running towards us. What was she doing here? Is she here for an assignment from Gaara?

"Hi, Temari. What are you doing here? Are you here for an assignment?"

"Nope! I'm here to see my Shika-kun!" My heart fell from hearing this. Are they dating? Why didn't Shikamaru tell me about this?

"I already told you. It's 'Shikamaru.' Shi-ka-mar-u."

"We-well, are you two dating?" I feared that the answer was going to be yes.

"Of course we are! He asked me out last week!"

"Shikamaru, why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Didn't feel like I needed to." Why did he feel like he didn't need to tell me?

"But I'm one of your best friends!"

"Too troublesome and too much to talk about."

"Well, I have to go now. I have to help my mom out at the flower shop. Bye." I was desperate to get away from there. As I was walking away, I heard Temari ask Shikamaru as why he didn't tell me that they were going away. After that, I heard a '_troublesome_' come out of his mouth.

I ran away as fast as possible. Tears were pouring from my eyes. My heart wrenched with ache and pain. I always knew that having your heart broken would be painful, but I never thought that it would be _this _painful.

But _why? _Why her? Why couldn't it been me? Why couldn't I have been the lucky girl?

As I was running home, I regret not telling him about my feelings for him. I collapsed on my bed and cried my heart out. I wonder if this is punishment from only paying attention to Sasuke and nobody else for all those years. If it is, it's very cruel to play with the feelings of the heart, but I guess it's what I deserve. After all, fate is cruel and usually unfair. I felt my head spinning and felt dizzy.

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After crying myself to sleep, I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in." I saw my mom standing in the doorway with a smile on her face.

"Ino, there's someone here to see you." She let the person in and stepped out the door.

"Hey, Ino, how are you feeling?" Sakura was a considerate friend. She always put others ahead of herself.

"I feel dead inside. Like I don't know how to live anymore." I felt tears prickling in my eyes and spilling out. I felt Sakura taking me in her arms and rubbed my back.

"Ino, I'm really sorry about the situation. I know how much you loved him. I felt the same way when Sasuke left. But I do hope everything will work out for you."

I cried on her shoulder as she comforted me.

"Thank you, Sakura. You're a good friend."

"You can call me if you need me. I have to go help out at the hospital now. Bye."

"Bye. Thanks."

"It's no problem." She left after telling me that. I feel a little better, but it still won't erase that large tear in the middle of my heart. I heard another knock on my door and quickly wiped my tears from my face. I was glad that I just woke up because my eyes are still fresh and not red.

"Yes?" My mom was at the door again.

"Ino, can you look after the shop for a little while? I need to run some errands."

"Sure, mom." I got off my bed and went to the shop. Maybe it'll take my mind off of him.

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"Hey, Ino, can I have a dozen long-stemmed roses?" It was Sasuke. My guess is he's buying it for Sakura.

"Sure." I prepared the flowers and handed the bouquet over and he paid the amount.

"Thanks." He nodded in response.

After a few minutes, I got bored and arranged some flowers in vases and placed them in the fridge. I heard the bell ring.

"May I help you?" I asked, not knowing who it was since I had my back turned.

"Can I have five roses?" I heard Shikamaru's voice and the feeling in my heart returned.

"Yeah, can you wait for a sec?"

"Fine," he sighed. Guess it was a bit troublesome to wait. I took some roses out and wrapped them in a bouquet for him. He handed me the correct amount of cash and walked out. My eyes saddened and wished that my mom would hurry back soon.

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An hour and a handful of customers later, my mom finally came back.

"Mom, can I go back home now? I feel a little tired."

"Of course, dear." I headed home and wondered about the things in my life. I wondered how it's going to end with my love life. If I'm going to be with Shikamaru. And if I do get to be with him, then what's going to happen to Temari.

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	2. Chapter 2: The Disorder Begins

-1_Chapter Two_

_The Disorder Begins_

Okay, I just want to tell you guys first. It is going to be like my other story, _**'Painful Love'**_, but not the exact same thing. There may be some similarities, but I would never write the exact same thing with different habits and characters.

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Ino was in her room, thinking of the events that happened today.

'_Shikamaru is dating her and didn't even tell me about it. Does he think really think that I'm not really a friend so don't deserve to know?_' She wondered about this and thought back to the days when they were genin.

'_I mean, I know that I've never really paid any attention to him when we were young, but I thought he knew that I at least cared about him._' A knock was heard at her bedroom door.

"What is it?"

"Ino, dear, it's time for dinner."

"Okay, mom, I'll come down soon."

"Sure, just don't take too long. It'll get cold. if you do." With that, her mom left and closed the door.

Ino pondered a few more minutes and went downstairs for dinner with her parents. She sat down and started to eat. She may have eaten, but at a very slow pace. She didn't have an appetite tonight. Her stomach felt full, but all she ate today was her breakfast.

"Ino, is there something wrong? You barely touched your food and I made your favorite tonight. Is it undercooked or something?"

"N-no, mom, it's perfect. I'm just wondering about some things that happened today." With that, she shoved some food in her mouth and ate at her normal pace to make it appear that there was nothing wrong.

"Well, I'm glad it's not my cooking, but if you have something's bothering you, you can always talk to your father and me."

"I know. Thanks." I know that I can talk to my parents about almost everything, but I'd rather that I keep this to myself and Sakura. I don't want them to worry about me.

"If it's a boy giving you trouble, just say his name and I'll take care of him for you."

"You don't have to so that, daddy." She gave them a small smile and continued eating. After eating, she felt a little nauseous and asked to be excused.

"May I be excused?" Her parents looked at each other and had a worried look on their faces. She almost never asked to be excused early.

"Sure, Ino."

"Thanks." And with that, she left the room. She ran into the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach in the toilet. After Ino's stomach stopped disagreeing with her, she flushed the toilet and brushed her teeth to get rid of the bitter taste and she was going to bed later.

"Ugh, what's happening to me?" Ino held her head and sighed. She exited the room and went into the kitchen to help her mother with the dishes.

"Ino, what's wrong? You almost never leave before dinner's over. You can tell me. I won't tell your father if you don't want me to." Ino doesn't want to lie, but she doesn't want her parents to worry about her either.

"Mom, nothing's wrong with me. I just feel tired today." Her mom didn't look convinced, but believed her anyways.

"Alright, if you insist."

The two continued to wash the dishes until it was time for bed.

Ino took a shower and changed into her pajamas. She went to bed and hugged one of her pillows. Unwillingly, her tears fell from her eyes as she thought about Shikamaru and Temari being together. She had that pain in her chest again that refused to go away.

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There. Done. Sorry it wasn't as long as the last one, though.


	3. Chapter 3: What's Wrong?

-1_Chapter 3_

_What's Wrong?_

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Note: I probably won't be updating for maybe a few days or a week or a little more at a time, because I have high school, but for the first few weeks, I might be able to update more often, because for those few weeks, I don't have my college courses to go to yet. If you're wondering why, my school requires all their students to study at a college campus and take at least one college course to get our AA degree before we go onto a university.

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Ino decided to go to Sakura to find out what's wrong with her, since she can't seem to keep most of her food down in the past few weeks. Even if she is a medic, Sakura's more skilled than she is.

She went early in the morning and tried to avoid everybody, or, at least, as much people as possible. This morning, though, Shikamaru was up unusually early. He spotted her and came out from the tree he was in.

"What are you doing up so early in the morning?"

"W-well, uh…um, I-I can ask you the same thing." She had a knot and sickly feeling in her stomach.

"I couldn't sleep. Strange, don't you think? I usually sleep in."

"Uh, yeah. Well, I was just going over to Sakura's right now. I'll see you later."

Ino walked away and Shikamaru knew something was up.

"What's she hiding?" He silently wondered to himself and walked to the hill that he usually went to watch clouds at. But today, it seemed as though he couldn't focus in that, even if it's the simplest task that a person does. Something was distracting him, but he doesn't know what.

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Ino continued to walk over to Sakura's house and knocked on the door. She was already up and answered it. Even though Sakura was already awake, she was still a bit tired, and yawned.

"Huh? Ino? What are you doing here? Do you need to talk about it?" Sakura was surprised. Sometimes, Ino liked to sleep in on weekends if there wasn't a mission or training. She welcomed her in and both sat down on the couch.

"Sakura, I was wondering if you can help me with something."

"Uh, sure, what is it?"

"Well, I was kinda wondering if you can run some tests on me."

"Why?"

"I've been vomiting after I eat and I'm not sick or anything. Well, at least, I don't think I am. I checked my temperature and everything."

"Well, okay. You haven't, like, you know, _been_ with anyone, have you?"

"What do you mean?" It seemed like Ino was a bit clueless about this.

"You know, have you been with a man?"

"Huh? Can you just come out and tell me?"

"You know, um…" Sakura whispered something in Ino's ear and Ino blushed.

"Oh, Kami-sama, no! Remember that promise we made to each other and ourselves? We wouldn't do _that_until we're married. Or at least until we're in love."

"I'll need a sample of your blood. Let's see…we can put it in this." Sakura rummaged through a cabinet and in a few moments, she held an empty clean, small glass container in her hand and a kunai in the other. Ino made a small, shallow cut on her left forefinger and let a few drops of blood drip into the small tube like container.

After the sample was collected, Ino placed her finger into her mouth and licked the wound.

"Do you have a band-aid?" Sakura handed her one and wrapped it around Ino's finger.

"Thanks. When do you think the results are going to be ready?"

"Probably tomorrow at the latest."

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

"Bye, then. And, Ino?"

"Yeah?"

"At least try to eat something and keep it down. It's not healthy to have an empty stomach."

"I know." With that, Ino left Sakura's house.

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It was about lunch time when Ino came home. She sighed and made a plain salad with tomatoes and carrots without any salad dressing, seeing as though it's one of the very few things that she can keep down. She ate in silence and waited for the results as the day went by.

After eating her meal, Ino went to the hospital to see Sakura about how the test was coming along. She stepped into Sakura's office to ask.

"Hey, Sakura? Are my test results ready yet?"

"Almost. About another hour." The two of them talked about recent things such as Sakura's relationship with Sasuke and the latest gossip. Before they knew it, the hour was up and retrieved the test results. They looked it over but found nothing wrong with her.

"Ino, there's nothing wrong with you."

"Are you sure? How accurate is the test anyways?"

"It's 99.99998 accurate, so it's almost never wrong. It might not be a physical problem, but it can be a mental problem. I'm not saying you're crazy or anything, but it can be that something emotional is bothering or upsetting you."

Ino looked down and Sakura embraced her when she noticed her mood change.

"I-ino, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"N-no, It's fine, Sakura. It is bothering me, and that's the truth. But at least I know I have a problem with them being together."

"Well, do you know which foods you can eat?"

"I can't eat anything, really. I either end up with a stomach ache or I end up it." Ino felt tired, but she hasn't even been active lately.

"Sakura, I want to go home. I feel tired."

"Tired? It's only been about five hours since you've woke up."

"I know, but I really want to rest. I need some sleep."

"Okay. Do you want me to walk you home?"

"No, it's fine."

"I'll see you later, then."

With that, Ino exited the hospital and headed home. But, she didn't know that somebody was following her.

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I like my new school, too, so I probably will be updating quicker than I expect, but not as soon as you expect me to update. My classmates, including the sophomores, juniors and seniors (I'm a freshman), are really nice and I'm told that I'll know everyone going to the school (not including the college students) by the second of semester. It's a pretty small school, consisting of only about 245 students altogether. The only things I have to actually have to be stressed about is either getting lost and the college course. The teachers are nice as well and they seem like they all teach very well.


	4. Chapter 4

-1I know, it's a year or two overdue, but I can't stand my life anymore.

_Chapter 4_

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Ino ran home as fast as her legs would let her. But she didn't know that someone was following her. The ever-so-famous shadow ninja jumped from tree to tree as the mind reader rushed home.

She opened the door and ran to her bedroom. Shikamaru watched her through the window to her room. He saw her walking into her bathroom and splashed her face with water.

Ino gripped the sides of the sink and took in deep breaths. She felt week. She couldn't stand herself. Anger. Sorrow. Pain. Ugly. She felt all these things all at once, just because of a stupid guy that hardly even paid any attention to her. What was the point? She was going to be ignored anyways, so why bother think about this, so much, that it made her body voluntarily starve itself?

Because of this stupid emotion. Love. Why do our emotions run our lives? Why can't we just be happy, without any of those things to worry about? If we were programmed like machines, wouldn't that be much simpler?

She decided not to dwell on things like this anymore, and trudged over to her bed, pulled her covers over herself, and fell asleep for a short nap. She didn't even bother to switch clothes.

Shikamaru just sighed and jumped to the hill where he usually reminisces.

--

'_Why does love have to be so painful? Whoever said that love was like being in heaven mush have been on crack.' _ Shikamaru closed his eyes and took in a large breath of air.

'_What am I going to do?'_

--

I know it's short, I wish I could've typed more, but I always seem stressed out from all my classes, even during breaks.


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